Social Media

Share Groups of Twitter Users in One Click with TweepML

If you're already familiar with OPML, the open standard format used to share groups of RSS feeds, then this analogy will explain the concept well: TweepML is like OPML for Twitter users.

The simplest use case for TweepML is to allow sites or individuals to create a downloadable file that contains a list of Twitter users, allowing others to import the file and follow all those users easily in one fell swoop. Imagine for example the popular Follow Friday tradition on Twitter — instead of trying to cram a big list of tweeps into 140 characters, you could simply create a TweepML file and point your followers to that.

Like OPML, TweepML is based on XML, a textual data format and open standard in wide usage on the web. Companies and individuals will be able to take the simple and extensible architecture of TweepML and build extra functionality and applications on top of it, all without having to pay hefty licensing fees or get anyone's permission to do so.

TweepML.org Service

The TweepML format has been officially approved by Twitter and launches today, with a companion service at TweepML.org that provides a basic TweepML editor for creating your own files with groups of Twitterers, and a Follow tool that takes a TweepML file as input and allows you to easily select which users from the list you'd like to add as followers.

You can either create and save TweepML files and save them on the TweepML.org site itself in order to get access to list management tools and statistics about your list usage, or simply save the TweepML files you create to your own desktop for use on your own server or site. You can see some of the lists already created so far, and if you're curious about the syntax, you can check out some examples here.

What do you think: does the TweepML format address a need as the Twitter userbase continues to grow? Do you see yourself using TweepML.org to find and share lists of Twitter users you might like to follow?

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